EXPEDIENT 23651

 EXPEDIENT 23651

D’ençà de l’últim cop que Arnau Bonet havia investigat un cas d’homicidi, havien passat tres mesos. I els clients, a l’empresa d’investigació privada que havia refundat amb els seus amics Pere Solivella i Joan Macià, havien disminuït notablement. Així doncs, fart dels problemes econòmics que vivien ell i la seva família, reconsiderant la proposta que li havia fet el nou Major dels Mossos d’Esquadra Ferran Ramírez d’incorporar-lo al cos com a inspector a la divisió d’investigació criminal, l’havia trucat aquell dimecres 18 de juliol a les onze del matí per a comunicar-li que acceptava la seva oferta.

Pere Solivella i Joan Macià decidiren continuar amb l’empresa. Semblava que els tres amics ja no continuarien investigant plegats. Per aquest motiu, el nou inspector Arnau Bonet, de trenta tres anys celebrats el dia de Nadal de l’any anterior, al cap d’unes setmanes d’haver-se incorporat al seu nou treball i veient les aptituds dels sergents Eulàlia Esteve i Curial Amat, decidí que serien els seus dos homes de confiança i els nomenà sotsinspectora i sotsinspector respectivament.

Eulàlia Esteve i Curial Amat tenien trenta anys. Feia dos anys que estaven promesos tot i que la qui havia confessat els seus sentiments era l’Eulàlia i no en Curial, car en Curial era més aviat reservat, cautelós i metòdic. Era bastant pacient en la majoria dels casos, però quan no ho era s’enfadava força. Un xic despistat també, els seus únics dos punts forts eren ser una persona seriosa i de poques paraules. Cabells atzabeja força llargs i llisos, acostumava a portar gorra i ulleres fosques, com si fos un espia. No molt alt, però d’aspecte atlètic, l’Eulàlia l’havia considerat una persona atractiva des de la primera vegada en què patrullaren per Rambla Catalunya uns dies després dels atemptats de Barcelona i Cambrils de 2017.

El Major Ferran Ramírez havia encarregat a l’inspector Arnau Bonet, personalment, que s’encarregués d’organitzar l’escorta presidencial que protegiria el president d’Espanya en el seu camí cap al Palau de la Generalitat, puix que havien rebut una amenaça de bomba per a manllevar la vida del president espanyol durant el trajecte cap al lloc on es trobaria amb el president de Catalunya, per primera vegada, posterior al segon referèndum d’autodeterminació, autoritzat pel Govern d’Espanya aquest cop. Àdhuc, Arnau Bonet s’encarregaria d’investigar qui havia escrit la nota amenaçadora i d’arrestar-lo.

L’inspector Bonet delegà a Curial Amat la responsabilitat de realitzar els preparatius per a l’escorta, mentre ell i la sotsinspectora Eulàlia Esteve resolien l’enigma. L’autor del missatge havia treballat meticulosament per tal d’evitar deixar empremtes que l’incriminéssin; en altres paraules, havia utilitzat guants per a tocar el paper de la carta, plegar-lo, guardar-lo al sobre i enviar-la. Per aquest motiu, com que l’Eulàlia era filòloga i havia analitzat diversos missatges com aquell anteriorment, amb molt d’èxit, analitzaren el contingut i la cal·ligrafia. L’estil de redacció, elegant i poètica, feia que Joan Macià, l’amic d’Arnau Bonet, fos el principal sospitós.

Com que Arnau Bonet no volia veure al seu amic emmanillat, Eulàlia fou l’encarregada d’arrestar-lo i portar-lo a comissaria. A la sala, Curial Amat i Eulàlia Esteve interrogaven al detectiu Joan Macià, supervisats per l’inspector Bonet, el qual era darrere un metacrilat fosc en una sala del costat de la d’interrogatoris, escoltant la conversa.

Pel que descobriren els tres policies, Joan Macià s’havia autoinculpat per a protegir algú altre que movia els fils rere el decorat. Algú que havia enviat a en Joan, una missiva com la que tenien entre mans, amenaçant-lo que si no s’inculpava, assassinaria als seus dos únics fills i a la seva esposa, la dona que més havia estimat al món, segrestats en algun polígon antic, brut i abandonat de la Zona Franca. Petit però fortificat com per a amagar tres persones segrestades a plena llum del dia, en un carrer poc transitat de la ciutat comtal.

L’esposa de Joan Macià, Elisenda Olivella, era la fiscal del districte Sarrià - Sant Gervasi. Investigava una organització fundada per un polític barceloní no gaire més important que l’alcalde de la ciutat, encarregada de blanquejar diners opacs, aconseguits pel màxim responsable de l’empresa, a través de segrestos, xantatges, expropiacions il·lícites, tràfic de drogues i altres tipus de delictes penats per la llei. El seu nom era Lluís Florejachs i la major part de polítics catalans el temien; tant és així que estaven disposats a donar-li la presidència del Govern català per a que aturés allò que havia començat.

Per aquest motiu Florejachs havia organitzat un pla que, si triomfava, el faria catapultar a la presidència de l’Estat i convertir-se en un dels empresaris més rics i influents de tota Europa: consistia en fer despistar la policia catalana, enviant una carta anunciant que faria saltar pels aires el cotxe del president espanyol mentres ell, personalment, trucaria al president català fent-se passar pel president espanyol, per a dir-li que o dimitia del seu càrrec o liquidaria, un per un, cadascun dels membres de la seva família, que li entregués la presidència del govern, que ell ja s’encarregaria de proclamar la independència de Catalunya, però en realitat pactaria amb el president de l’Estat l’abolició de l’autogovern sine die. D’aquesta manera, aconseguiria el vist i plau del mandatari espanyol de ser el seu vicepresident i assoliria el poder de l’Estat enverinant-lo. Florejachs, aleshores, aboliria la constitució i controlaria l’exèrcit, format només pels membres de la seva organització i els soldats que considerés més manipulables per a que només els seus homes més fidels ostentéssin el poder i el protegissin de qualsevol possible atac contra la seva persona o algun membre de la seva família.

Bonet i els seus sequaços no sabien a què s’enfrontaven, però una cosa almenys sí que sabien del cert: que Joan Macià era innocent. Preguntaren, Arnau i Eulàlia, al seu company Curial, com tenia la preparació de l’escorta i aquest els anuncià que la tenia enllestida. Per tant, ja es podia centrar en ajudar-los a resoldre el cas de la carta amenaçadora.

— Macià, almenys ens podràs dir on s’amaga la carta que et va enviar aquell qui et va amenaçar, no? És per a tenir quelcom per on començar!— Digué Arnau, que havia entrat per a veure com estava el seu amic Joan—.

En sentir la veu del seu amic Arnau, per un moment Joan s’alegrà. Sabia que, si l’inspector Bonet investigava aquell succés, ell s’ensortiria i es podria reunir novament amb la seva família. Dubtà un moment però finalment li digué que la tenia guardada en un calaix de l’escriptori del seu despatx.

Curial Amat i Arnau Bonet anaren a casa de Joan Macià mentre Eulàlia Esteve es quedava a l’habitació custodiant el detingut. Però per desgràcia seva, algú se’ls havia avançat i la carta havia desaparegut, malgrat que la sala estava regirada completament. La científica, en arribar, analitzà les empremtes que el lladre havia deixat i descobriren que la fiscal Elisenda Olivella n’havia estat la responsable.

Mentre Curial tornava a la comissaria amb les proves que havien aconseguit, Arnau Bonet volgué anar a l’oficina de la fiscal Olivella per a descobrir quin mòbil tenia amb tots aquells esdeveniments. Descobrí els arxius de la investigació que tenia oberta sobre el polític Lluís Florejachs i tots els entramats delictius que havia planejat per a poder aconseguir ser la persona més influent de l’Estat Espanyol.

Es va fer passar per Florejachs per aconseguir parlar amb el seu banquer i descobrir en quin número de la Zona Franca hi tenia el magatzem on tenia retinguts l’esposa i els fills de Joan Macià. Apuntà la direcció en un paper: carrer de la Lletra B número 107. Tot seguit es despedí del banquer i penjà la trucada.

Informà a Curial Amat i a Eulàlia Esteve del que havia descobert i es dirigí amb el seu cotxe patrulla cap al lloc esmentat anteriorment. Arribà quan passaven cinc minuts de dos quarts de quatre de la tarda; el dispositiu policial estava preparat per a passar a l’acció quan arribés l’inspector Bonet.

— Curial i Eulàlia, cobriu-me quan digui tres i entri a l’edifici. La resta, espereu-vos a fora per a tenir rodejat en Florejachs si intenta fugir. Entesos?!— Ordenà Bonet, disposat a morir en acte de servei si ho requeria el pla que estava improvitzant—.

Però per sort, no calgué. Fou un èxit l’operació rescat de la fiscal Olivella i els seus fills. A més a més, l’inspector Bonet, amb l’ajuda del sotsinspector Amat, aconseguí capturar a Lluís Florejachs un cop aquest va haver disparat l’última bala que impactà contra una caixa plena d’ampolles de vi. Si una cosa no havia previst Lluís Florejachs era la seva mala punteria.

La confessió de Lluís Florejachs l’aconseguiren quan el seu advocat, present en l’interrogatori, l’aconsellà de fer-ho per a evitar que es passés tota una vida tancat en una cel·la i reduir al màxim la condemna.

Finalment, aquell primer cas com a inspector juntament amb els seus dos nous companys havia estat tot un èxit i celebrà una festa al seu xalet amb la seva esposa i els seus amics Pere Solivella i Joan Macià inclosos, els quals digueren a Arnau que els truqués si mai ho necessitava. Per fi havia acabat tot i esperava ansiós el següent misteri per a resoldre.

SAKURA

SAKURA

Era mitjan gener i estaven a punt de florir de nou els cirerers. La meva família feia temps que en tenia un en propietat, però malgrat tot em van fer anar a reservar lloc per a veure’l florir; era tradició reservar plaça per a copsar com, lentament, s’obrien els capolls de les flors de cirerer que embellirien, per un instant, aquell paisatge hivernal que tornaria a renéixer i faria brotar de bell nou l’amor.

Vaig llevar-me a les cinc, ben d’hora per a ser el primer en posar la tovallola amb els nostres noms brodats amb seda daurada i un estampat de crisantems, lliris i orquídies. Mes el fort vent que bufava aquella matinada i la pluja que havia començat a caure tot just en eixir de casa, em van fer arribar tard i un noia de la meva edat (setze per a fer-ne disset) ja ens havia pres el nostre cirerer…

Ens vam mirar durant uns segons: el seu esguard penetrant havia ferit la meva ànima a l’instant i no vaig ésser suficientment valent per a dir-li que aquell era el cirerer de la meva família i no se’l podia apropiar; en aquell precís instant van arribar els meus pares acompanyats pels avis, els cosins i els oncles i em preguntaren per què havia deixat que aquella noia s’apropiés del nostre arbre. No vaig respondre.

Ens vam asseure al costat de la seva família i vam començar a menjar les boletes d’arròs que l’àvia havia preparat per a celebrar l’arribada de la primavera. A les nou van començar a obrir-se les flors i, mentre els nostres pares sotjaven la fugaç i intensa escena, ella em va fer un senyal per a que m’apropés a ella.

Les nostres mirades van xocar de nou. Ella m’agraí el que havia fet abans per a ella i la seva família; em va explicar que ells també havien tingut un cirerer, però que en un incendi que va calcinar uns quants arbres del sud de la prefectura de Tòquio l’havien perdut al mateix temps que el seu avi morí i que era el primer any que havien decidit anar a veure florir els cirerers del nord.

Mentre acabava d’explicar-me allò i els primers pètals de les flors de cirerer començaven a caure, vaig acariciar els seus dits. Ella m’agafà de la cintura ensems apropava el seu rostre i tancava els ulls; vaig fer el mateix. Llavors, els seus llavis, humits i tendres van besar suaument els meus, humits i carnosos, instant en que la piuladissa dels aucells i els violins de la orquestra que començava a interpretar la cançó folklòrica Sakura, van ensucrar l’albada i encendre la guspira que ens havia fos en una sola tija i un sol tàlem, la nostra carn i el nostre esperit.

A KIDNAPPING IN MUNICH

 A KIDNAPPING IN MUNICH

Ansgar Wolfgang von Beltz, who was known as Ansgar W. von Beltz, or simply Ansgar von Beltz, was a nineteen year-old teenager borned in Munich the 31st of December 2000; a junior bundespolizei inspector who was investigating a kidnapping in the capital city of the Freistaat Bayern which had happened at eight o’clock on the last day of Summer 2020.

He was tall and thin. He had long dark brown courly hair, dark brown moustache and beard also, brown chestnut eyes, a big aquiline nose and a sharp featured face… He was living in Augsburg with his parents Jürgen and Lieselotte and his cat named Elske in a castle on the top of a hill situated in the western zone of Westliche Wälder natural reserve where Jürgen’s ancestors had built their property in the medieval epoch.

He went out of his room and went downstairs to the garage where his grey BMW car was parked with his white motorbike, his blue bicycle and his green skateboard. He came into his vehicle and he went out of his house heading for the police station where his friends Patrick Schlager —the probationary bundespolizei inspector— and Johann Moritz —the senior bundespolizei chief inspector— were waiting for him.

Closed to Bayern, in the main city of the State of Salzburg, a twenty-three years old young woman whose name was Astrid Schwarz and who was born in Salzburg also the 1st of June 1997, as one of the Austrian bundespolizei constables, was investigating a murder in Linz which had happened the same evening of the kidnapping that had taken place in Munich some hours before.

Astrid Schwarz was the youngest of two marriage Schwarz children. Her mother died two days after giving birth her daughter at the hospital because of some unforeseeable difficulties at the last minute and her father had to get married again with another woman —who seemed to be one of the children of the President of Schleswig-Holstein with his first wife— with whom he had twins afterwards one year of meeting her in a restaurant of Berlin. 

She went out of her flat and she took her white Smart two-seater to set off for the headquarters where her boss Martin Müller —the senior Austrian bundespolizei chief inspector in Salzburg— and her friend Karl Steiner —who was working in that base of operations as one of the Austrian bundespolizei probationary constables— were waiting for her to give her some new piece of news about the murder.

When Astrid arrived Martin began to tell her what the chief surgeon had told him after carrying out the autopsy of the corpse: the German guy, who maybe was thirty years old, had fighted with his killer but the guilty had shot him on his heart and stabbed on his chest before his death which was brief and that had happened in the blink of an eye.

At the same time that Astrid arrived at her police station, Ansgar came into Johann Moritz office, who was commanding to Patrick to find the car used by the kidnapper to commit the kidnapping and while the senior chief inspector was talking with him about the alleged identity of the main suspect, Schlager was in contact with Karl Steiner to order him to look for the black Wolkswagen Transporter utilised by the kidnapper to kidnap the victim and to go out of the country towards Austria; Patrick suspected that after mistaken the kidnap, the guilty had planned to kill his victim the same day in another state to avoid a possible suspicion of the bundespolizei.

Some weeks after making the phone call, Astrid sent a letter to Johann telling him that one of her policemen had found a van with the same description in a ditch situated in the middle of the border between Germany and Austria. Moritz ordered Ansgar to meet with Astrid Schwarz that Friday morning at ten o’clock at the place where they had found the German vehicle abandoned because the judge, when he had known the event, he decided to order to be in charge of the case the Austrian bundespolizei also, suspecting that the murder and the kidnapping were realised by the same person in two different places in the same day.

The first time that Ansgar met with Astrid was arousing for him: he had not ever met someone whose beauty were gratifying and esoteric as hers. The most gorgeous portions of her oval face for him were her golden straight hair and her two flawed blue eyes together with her red and thick lips; she had a trim body with a perfectly round buttock and a pair of smooth thighs so that he must to fall in love of the most goddess person he have ever seen.

“Hi! Wie heißen Sie?” he asked her in German self-consciously when he got to the borderland among Germany and Austria and he saw her waiting for him uniformed beside her police car. “Mein Name ist Ansgar von Beltz und Ich bin der Polizeikommissar von München!” he added whilst he was waiting for her answer.

“Ich heiße Astrid Schwarz und Ich bin die Inspektor von Salzburg. Freut mich, dich kennenzulernen!” she answered him in German also and she began to talk with him about the crime which had happened in Linz a week before. 

When she articulated that phrase Ansgar thought that her voice was sweeter than he  expected. However he had to give up thinking about it and leaving it for another occasion to pay attention to what she was talking about because he was there because of the case —and not to fall in love of her as he was doing it at that moment—.

They decided to go to a pub in the city centre to discuss it there while they would were drinking a glass of beer and some chips to eat it with the drink; Astrid ordered to Karl to watch the assumed scene of the murder and she leaved her car with him whilst she was getting on Ansgar’s car. During the journey, talking with Mr. von Beltz Jr. about their lives, Astrid began to feel the same feeling for him but she did not kiss Ansgar because they were in the middle of a judicial investigation and they were forbidden any type of relationship if it weren’t a labour relation.

Just after they arrived at the coffee shop, whereas Astrid sat on the table, Ansgar requested a waiter two glasses of malt liquor and one dish of french chips for them. He sat also on the table in front of Ms. Schwarz and then, they continued to talk about the investigation they were carrying out.

“And so have the forensic surgeon or the scientific police any type of fingerprint of the murderer? Did you find anything in the abandoned van?” Ansgar urged her to know. Astrid thought the answer for some minutes and she answered him affirmatively.

“We’ve found around his neck and his wrists some marks of fight and in his chest and his heart some scars that indicate that the killer used a bladed weapon and a handgun!” it was her answer. “And we’ve also found the bullet shot by the assailant. The ballistic analysis have shown us that the guilty commited the crime with an out of the ordinary pistol!” she added.

At twelve o’clock they went out of the restaurant and came back to the scene of the murder where Karl and Martin had found the knife of the crime which did not contain any fingerprint of the killer to do the fingerprinting. They had thought that the murderer had used gloves to carry out it and Martin ordered Astrid and Ansgar to find its gloves whilst they went back to the base of operations where a woman had asked a sergeant for their services.

The lady was crying on a bench of the police station when Martin and Karl went into the place where the sergeant was offering her a cup of coffee and taking her statement. He saw them and he went out of the room to keep Martin informed about the interrogation realised by him.

“She have told me that her husband reported a man who have sent him some threatening letters in order to pay his debt with him. The policeman who talked with her husband paid no attention to what he was telling him and he chased him out of the police station with bad manners!” the sergeant told Martin who was watching his mobile phone. “Did you hear what I have explained to you?” he added.

He said yes and he urged to know who was the sergeant who had talked with the victim. They discovered that the police officer who had paid him attention was an undercover agent; the broad was the leader of a criminal group which had a friendly relation with him. However, when the victim began to lose his money with the races wager and football matches, he asked for a loan to the leader and he began to be the killer’s debtor who ordered to someone to murder him if he did not pay the debt.

Nevertheless, when Ansgar came into the office to tell Martin that Astrid had discovered another corpse inside the boot of the van, he thought that the hit man refused to do the crime and the mobster had killed him also to show him his strength and leadership.

Martin and Ansgar came back to the place where Astrid was and they leaved Karl in the police station interviewing the victim’s wife also to get moore information from her. Astrid had vanished from the scene of the murder when the two policemen arrived there and Ansgar began to search her by the forest situated beside the road.

He walked some minutes through the woodland and he saw two types of footprints on the road. Ansgar identified the first one as the sole of Astrid’s shoes so that he followed it arriving at the end of the forest; in which place he discovered a trail of blood that continued to an abandoned cottage.

Then, he knocked on the door, but anyone opened it. Ansgar prepared himself to knock down the entrance while he was taking his handgun; he came into the dark and silent building and some minutes later, he saw a corpse on the floor of the kitchen beside the murder weapon —a rifle of hunting that smelt as if it was been shooted by the killer some minutes before because of the odour of burnt powder—. 

The junior bundespolizei inspector yelled Astrid’s name but he did not get her answer. He listened some steps and a man —who maybe was thirty-five year-old— went into the room closing the door behind him. He began to laugh malevolently and he said that he had closed Astrid in the basement and that he had buried the victim in the garden.

Afterwards the guilty hit him with a vase and before to close him with Astrid, he stole his mobile phone to avoid a possible call to ask the police for their help. He took his suitcase and with his stepbrother, by his car, they evaded their house beforehand their prisoners woke up and tried to escape from the basement.

“Have you taken the money from the robbery?” asked the leader of the criminal group when they were driving to Vaduz by the motorway where Martin was waiting in his police car for Ansgar and Astrid. “Please, tell me, because if you have not taken the loot, we have to come back to the house to take it; if not, they will discover our plans!” he added and saw his stepbrother who was chatting with their accomplices.

That afternoon Ansgar woke up and saw Astrid in the same room as he was closed in. He cut the rope that tied him and his chair in a wooden column of the room and he free his friend also; then, they planned how to go out of the basement and they decided to wait the kidnappers, thinking that they will went in, and to attack them by surprise with the chairs where they were sitting on.

While the two police officers were waiting for it Ansgar confessed to Astrid his feelings for her and she told him that she was in love with him also. Astrid kissed Ansgar expressing her gratitude to him for release her and they made the love; Ansgar jerked off himself thinking on it when they listened a voice of man talking with other person in the living room so that he had to stop what he was making and they feigned to be bound in the column sitting on their chairs respectively.

But the voice disappeared and they wished that Martin and their mates were trying to find and free them, so that Astrid thought to use the mobile phone to send Martin a message and to free her and her boyfriend that night. However, the kidnappers had stolen their phones and they couldn’t do anything to evade from the basement. 

Seeing that Ansgar and Astird did not come back to the place where he was waiting for them, he came back to the police station and ordered to Karl Steiner to talk with Patrick Schlager and Johann Moritz to tell them what had happened and to prepare a police operation to free them and try to find the guilties of the mystery.

Johann and Patrick travelled to Salzburg the following day to meet with Martin and Karl who were eating their breakfast in the base of operations. They said hello to Martin and their friend, and they urged to know how Ansgar and Astrid had disappeared… 

Martin answered them that while Ansgar and him were in the police station talking with Karl and the victim’s spouse, Astrid had disappeared; they had come back to the scene of the crime and Ansgar began to find her but whilst he was doing it, he had vanished also.

Patrick decided that Martin and he would go to the scene of the crime and look for them in the forest whereas Karl and Johann were waiting for his call of rescue if they needed their help. He catched one gun for himself and while he was putting his jacket Martin did the same; then, they went out of the police station and Martin drove his police car to the place where Mr. von Beltz and Mrs. Schwarz had vanished.

When they arrived at the scene of the murder Martin ordered to Patrick to wait for him while he was searching for them and he went out of the vehicle. Patrick took advantage of that to do the autopsy of the second corpse and to look for the identity of the victim; he discovered that he was a thief who had collaborated with three more people in a robbery in Berlin some weeks before the first crime.

Mr. Müller found Ansgar’s footprints and he followed it. Some minutes later he reached the dwelling where Ansgar and Astrid were closed in the basement and he came into the building; he also found the corpse that Ansgar had seen the day before and he phoned Patrick who arrived there right away too.

While Patrick was making the autopsy and the identification of the third cadaver, Martin yelled Astrid’s name and she answered his call. He knocked down the door and Ansgar and Astrid came out of the room; they gave thanks to Martin and later on, they asked him if the police had detained the suspects.

Then, Patrick appeared and told them his suspicions: the three murders were connected with a robbery that had happened the 31st of July 2020 in Berlin where six young guys had robbed the fifty percent of gold of the Deutsche Bundesbank. He demonstrated his theory with the identities of the three victims and their corresponding criminal record.

“And how do you explain the crimes?” asked Ansgar, who believed his friend from the beginning. “Did you find something else to prove your thesis?” he added and also he urged to know the relation of the two thieves with the man who had a debt with the mobster who ordered someone to commit the first crime.

Patrick showed to Ansgar and their mates the whatsapp messages of the criminal group and he told them that one of the thieves was the hit man who was employed by the mobster and who rejected his proposal in order not to be convicted for the murder and the other was killed by the mobster because he wanted to report to the police his plans if he not paid him the fifty percent of the loot robbed by them; the third one was the debtor who reported the mobster in order to the threatening letters and he was murdered by him due to he had not paid his debts with him.

“So, we have to find the three other people of the mob, correct?” Martin asked afterwards “Because we still lack the third one who maybe is the associate of the mobster and who was the undercovered agent who did not pay attention to the debtor when he wanted to report the leader of the criminal group because of the letters!” he added also while Ansgar kissed Astrid again.

She suggested that Ansgar and herself will come back to the police station to find in the database the name of the undercovered agent and his associates whereas Patrick and Martin were waiting in the house for them finding some fingerprints of the three other components of the group of thieves.

However, when they arrived at the police base of operations, they discovered a killing: Johann, Karl and the lady had vanished from it and also some policemen had been murdered by someone who was in the police station yet. They phoned Martin to tell him what had happened but he did not answer the call.

In the dwelling Martin and Patrick had found, by surprise, the fingerprints of the third component: the lady who was crying when Ansgar and Martin came back to the police station where Karl was talking with the woman had participated on it; she was the wife of the debtor who divorced of him after knowing that he was going out with his British  sister-in-law —the mobster’s spouse—. 

“Patrick, I think I know what happened on the 31st of August 2020!” Martin yelled. “The first victim’s wife wished to kill her husband because he was going out with his sister-in-law, who was the mobster’s spouse. They decided to kidnap him in Germany and killing him in Austria; the lady was living in Salzburg with her husband and the mobster was living in München with his wife, so that when the woman knew her husband’s debt she suggested him to report the letters sent by the leader of the criminal group and to move to the Freistaat Bayern to avoid a possible murder. Nevertheless he never thought that his wife had sent him the threatening letters as she agreed it on the mobster.” Martin narrated to Patrick.

“And then, when the first victim arrived at the main city of Bayern, as they had agreed some days before, the mobster kidnapped him —that was one of his brothers (the other, the undercovered agent, was his stepbrother)— and his wife murdered him in Linz. They did not thought that one of their associates in the robbery of the Deutsche Bundesbank wished to be paid with the fifty percent of the plunder robbed; that was the mobster’s stepbrother who was employed by him as an undercover agent when some weeks before the first crime he was informed by the lady that she had suggested to her husband to report him to the police because of the threatening messages written by herself. The mobster killed his stepbrother and hid him in the van. Afterwards he abandoned the vehicle where our policemen found it but how do you explain the cadaver of the dwelling?” Patrick urged him to know.

But when he finished to say it, he listened to some steps and Astrid and Ansgar came into the house. The last one answered Patrick’s question: “We’ve thought that the third cadaver was involved in also; Astird have discovered that the undercover agent blackmailed another policeman to participate in the robbery and when the leader of the group discovered that the undercover agent wished to be paid with the fifty percent of the loot to not to report him as the main guilty of the robbery, he employed the other policeman as a hit man to get rid of him but the boy in blue did not want to do it and wished also to free Astrid, so that the mobster had to murder him also!” exclaimed Ansgar, making Martin react and he asked him if the three guilties were going out of the country.

Later on, Astrid saw a laptop on the dining room table. She told Ansgar what she had discovered and Ansgar went to the place where it was to try to find the answer of Martin’s request; he found something to show to the judge and ask if he allowed them to act in Switzerland.

When Martin know that the three guys wished to go out of the country he notified to Vorarlberg bundespolizei and Tirol bundespolizei also about the three thieves who wanted to escape to Vaduz and he describe their car to stop them if they saw the guilties that Ansgar and their friends were looking for. 

The evening of the second day the mobster and his two associates were arrested after crossing the border from Austria to Switzerland. They were extradited to Salzburg by plane where Ansgar and Astrid interrogated them to know why they had to take the fifty percent of gold of the Deutsche Bundesbank and why they had to kill their three other associates. 

The mobster affirmed that he had killed one of his brother because he wished to have a part of the loot robbed and because he was going out with his sister-in-law; the debt and the kidnap were fake because it were a part of the plan, so that the three murders and the robbery were connected and the motive was the plunder of the hold-up.

They were convicted a month after Astrid and Ansgar wedding who were married in Augsburg and they moved to München to live there in a house of the ancient city where they would set up their family and they would take care of their children. Johann and Karl were free by them some days after the police operation in Vaduz.

UN PRESENT DE DÉU

 Benvolguts,

El microrrelat que publicaré avui participa en un concurs d'instagram dedicat al Nadal. No és un repte qualsevol car no han de sortir ni arbres de Nadal, ni regals, ni torrons o canelons, ni el Pare Noel o els Reis Mags, etc.Però bé ha de ser de Nadal, no? Doncs si voleu més informació sobre el concurs i algun tipus d'ajuda, aneu a l'enllaç que us posaré a continuació i llegiu-vos les bases del certamen... Sols hi haurà un guanyador i rebrà promoció a les xarxes socials del guanyador, un sticker i dos banners per al seu microrrelat: BASES DEL CONCURS.

Tot seguit us deixo el microrrelat amb el qual participaré al concurs. Com sempre, desitjaria que escrivissin als comentaris què els ha semblat i quelcom a millorar.

Ben cordialment,

Phoenix of the Literature

UN PRESENT DE DÉU

Havia sortit de casa, com sempre, cap al tard, per a copsar la posta de sol que es filtrava entre els núvols fent del cel un quadre com els que s’exposen a museus o galeries d’art. Nova York, adormida per la melodia dels cotxes que transitaven per les avingudes desertes de gent; ja no s’aturaven a mirar els aparadors, ni hi havia intel·lectuals asseguts a les terrasses dels cafès, que tancarien abans per a poder-se reunir amb la família o els amics.

Sempre que isc veig a un home gran que passeja el seu gos i em saluda quan m’aturo al semàfor del Wall Street per a creuar el carrer i baixar cap al mar a donar de menjar a les gavines, però aquella horabaixa, freda i fosca, no me’l vaig trobar. Vaig fer la meva encara que, si us he de ser sincer, em vaig aturar uns minuts per a veure si el trobava.

El port estava desert; sols una desena de joves que començaven a embriagar-se amb tabac i alcohol per a passar la frigidesa. Mes, per sort o per desgràcia, no sé com ho hauria de considerar, vaig sentir uns crits d’auxili…

Vaig girar el cap a banda i banda i vaig descobrir a un nen que s’estava ofegant en les ones car no sabia nedar; vaig capbussar-me en l’aigua i, sense pensar-m’ho, vaig dur-lo cap a la costa, nedant mentre li feia de remolcador.

Sa mare, que ho contemplava des de la llunyania puix que tampoc sabia nedar, m’ho agraí en veure’m i em convidaren a sopar a la seva llar, oferta que no vaig declinar i, entre copa i copa i, entre brindis i brindis, vaig saber que ja mai més viuria sol, doncs havia trobat, per fi, l’amor de la meva vida, un regal de Déu que em costaria d’oblidar en anys.

A BUSINESSMAN LOST IN DONEGAL

A BUSINESSMAN LOST IN DONEGAL

Alan Baker, who was nineteen years old and the most important sergeant of the Garda Síochána, was investigating a murder which had happened in Donegal the night before the last day of the summer while he was coming back his house by train: he watched a man, who was wearing gloves, shooting a gun in the heart of another who was sitting next to him; the subway stopped at the final railway station and the killer went out of the carriage quickly running away.

Sergeant Baker’s brother, a man who was twenty years older than him whose name was Gareth and who was living in Cardiff, was investigating the disappearance of a Scottish businessman in Donegal also with his associate Ansgar Bach —the last one was helping him from his house of Newport— who set up with Gareth a private investigation firm in Swansea a day before Alan’s birth, the 29th of December 2000. He arrived at Belfast by ferry and he rented a car to go to the city where the sergeant was involved in the mystery trying to solve it.

Gareth met with Alan at a pub of the city centre where they have eaten their dinner whilst they were talking about the two cases. When the oldest of the two brothers knew the murder which Alan was investigating, he thought that the disappearance of the Scottish businessman and the crime were connected because the victim of the homicide which his brother was trying to solve had the same physical description as the stepbrother of the Scottish businessman who had disappeared at the same town where the businessman’s wife had seen him for the last time.

They finished to eat their meal and Alan, whereas he came into his white Smart two-seater and was switching on the engine, said goodbye to his brother Gareth and they arranged to meet at the police station the next morning at eight o’clock. Gareth set off for his hotel and Alan came back to his house where their parents George and Diana —the owners of a hotel in Limerick named Baker’s Hotel— were waiting for him watching the television and eating some popcoms; however, when he arrived and parked his car in the garage he got a phone call that he had to answer straight away…

… It was from one of his friends, Peter O’Shea, who was a Garda inspector, the main responsible of the investigation, the person who began the case with Alan’s help. He told him that an agent had discovered the corpse of a businessman floating in the river and when the surgeon had made the autopsy, she had discovered that was been killed with a handgun three or four hours before in another part and that the murderer had moved the body to the place where the agent had seen it; the killer was the same man as Alan had watched how he had murdered the other who was sitting next to him in the train.

Sergeant Baker phoned his male sibling and narrated to him what had happened. Gareth decided to go to the scene of the crime to see the cadaver and photograph the place where the police was searching for some clues and fingerprints that the killer may had had misplaced it whilst he was discussing with the victim before committing his death. After that, he got into his car again and he headed for the setting in which the law enforcement was.

Just after he arrived, inspector O’Shea told him that, at last, they had known the place where the victim had been murdered; it had been committed at the same carriage of the subway where the other had happened. He added that the name of the dead person was Martin McCarthy and was the businessman which Gareth was looking for… He had a debt with his stepbrother Simon, nevertheless the economic reason had to be driven out of the list because Simon had been killed also and he couldn’t do it.

“As we can see in the corpse the killer had used a handgun to commit the murder. However, if you come and see closer than now, you will find some scars surrounding his neck that shows you that they had fighted before Martin’s death!” exclaimed the forensic surgeon.

“So, the killer strangled him before shooting the handgun in Martin’s heart?” asked the sergeant to the surgeon whilst he was getting close to the victim to see better what her friend had told him some minutes before.

“Yes, but I will prove it later on after doing the autopsy!” she answered and leaved him alone searching something as the murder weapon, the murderer’s fingerprints, his gloves in case he had used, … However he couldn’t find it and he had to come back to the police station with the inspector O’Shea who was wondering himself why the murderer had killed the second victim.

Some minutes later, when they arrived at the office, Alan —who was intuiting what his chief was thinking— suggested him a possible answer for his question; he told him his thoughts: Mr. McCarthy maybe had had an extramarital affair with another woman and as his wife knew that, she had decided to kill him as revenge for his betrayal.

Peter O’Shea agreed with the sergeant. Notwithstanding, pursuant to the interview that he held with McCarthy’s bride, she denied any type of extramarital relationship of his husband but she asserted that Martin had financial troubles with his business and he had had to request a loan to the crime syndicate because the bank did not want to give him some money when he asked them for it.

Inspector O’Shea ordered to Alan to look over Mrs. McCarthy’s bank account to check if she was in Donegal when the crime had happened and if she had done any transfer as the purchasing of a boarding pass from Scotland to Ireland by plane and the arrival had taken place a day before the first or the second murder… But the sergeant negated it; nonetheless a payment from Martin’s bank account to his possible mistress seemed a little odd: he had paid her with the amount of two thousand pounds and, as Martin’s wife had told them, he had economic problems with his enterprise.

Alan hinted at Peter to go to visit the woman and interrogate her. Peter searched for her address in the police database and he discovered that the lady was been killed three years before in her house but anyone could not arrest the guilty because all of the suspects had an alibi that were verified by the superintendent of the case as reliable alibis according to the clues of the homicide.

Then, when they had the knowledge of that murder, Alan wanted to know who was been the leader and Peter told him that when that crime had occurred, he was a policeman who was working in a police station of Dublin but when the leader of the case requested for his services he moved to Donegal and met with John Murray, the main responsible at that moment that nowadays worked in Galway as chief superintedent although he was living in the city.

Moreover they discovered also that he had had a little holydays when the first murder had passed and that he had came back to Donegal with the same train where Alan was and where he saw how the murderer had killed the man who was sitting close to him… The sergeant called him but the chief superintendent of Galway did not answer the phone call.

He put on his coat and leaved the base of operations to go to the village where, maybe, he was, to query him about the case shelved due to lack of evidence. Nonetheless, he was not in his office and when he asked Peter if he was in his house, inspector O’Shea kept him informed that John had bought a boarding pass from Dublin to New York with the same quantity of money that Martin had paid to his lover.

Peter O’Shea searched in the police database if John Murray had any criminal record and he found out that he was been arrested considering that he was a member of the mafia but when the judge ordered to free him, foreseeing a possible jailing, he changed his name and enrolled himself into the public examination to be an agent of Garda that he passed and become superintendent two years before the unsolvable homicide; the leader of the crime syndicate ordered him to murder the woman because she had told to the police that she had seen him trafficating with two Islamic terrorists, selling them some weapons. John did it and, when he had to open the case, hindered the investigation to prevent to be arrested again.

The sergeant arrived at Dublin’s airport and arrested him with the help of two police officers who were waiting for him as he requested to the superintendent of Dublin. When the inspector and the sergeant asked John why he had murdered Mr. McCarthy and his stepbrother, he answered that he was not guilty because he did not meet them and he wanted to know what was his offence.

Alan talked with the scientific police force and asked if Martin’s body had any fingerprint from the killer in the marks that were surrounding his neck and the forensic surgeon answered him affirmatively with the identity of the person who caused his death: it was the son who choked him.

Peter had to free Mr. Murray due to lack of evidence and he phoned Mrs. McCarthy to know if her son Arthur was with her. When she knew where he was, he went out of the station and went to their house to interrogate Arthur McCarthy who was sitting on the bench of his garden; the young McCarthy, who must not would surpassed the fifteen years old, when he saw the inspector, he began to run and eluded him firstly but the inspector shoot him in his right leg and arrested Arthur who came into the police car obeying his enemy.

“We have evidence that you killed your father Martin. Which was your reason to do it?” sergeant Baker asked, showing him also the references which the forensic surgeon had given to him about the fingerprints of Martin’s neck. “Of course, if you do not collaborate with us, we will arrest you as one of the guilties! Your suffocating did not cause your father’s death but you tryed to kill him!” added Alan.

“I will not answer your questions without the presence of my lawyer!” he answered and hit on the table very angry.

Two hours and a half took the interview. The room was quiet but some minutes later a policeman came into the office and told to Alan that Mrs. McCarthy had been killed by someone in her residence; Arthur cried whilst the sergeant put on his jacket and went out again of his workplace to go to the scene of the crime.

There, the forensic surgeon already was, who kept him informed about the cause and the time of the death, showing him what he had found: at last they had the murder weapon which the ballistic analysis validated his thoughts because the calibre was the tipical of the police sidearms… John had used gloves to commit the three murders and the same method to carry out it also: firstly he had stifled his victims and in the end he had shot his firearm to wrap up their lives.

He came back to the boys in blue base of operations to free Arthur McCarthy and to get John Murray’s confession after three policemen would have arrested him again. The guy owned up his guilty and claimed that he had had to homicide Martin’s stepbrother, to kidnap and to kill Martin McCarthy and to murder McCarthy’s wife because Martin’s stepbrother —whose name was Simon Walsh— had seen him how he had killed the victim of the unsolvable case and he had threatened him that if he not paid him with two thousand of pounds, he would report the crime to the police giving them the photographs he had made of it.

Then, when John rejected his offer, Simon had talked with Martin about the threat and, as John was spying on their conversations, he decided to commit the first crime and to kidnap and homicide his stepbrother to avoid suspicions and, to prevent any type of problem with the police, got the number of Martin’s visa card and he made the financial operation transferring his two thousand pounds to the Martin’s lover bank account leaving it for some days in Martin’s bank account.

“And why did you kill Martin’s wife” wished to know Peter O’Shea who was watching the interrogation in another room opaque and safely by his security if the murderer would lost his control and then he would have attacked them.

“Because she saw someone kidnapping her husband and I thought that maybe he would have seen me doing it. She requested Ansgar, the famous German private detective established in Wales, and his associate Gareth Baker for their help and when I met it, I went to her mansion of Donegal and I killed her after Martin’s death.” he answered and put his hands on the table so that Alan would be able to put him the handcuffs while the sergeant was reading him his bill of rights.

Finally, two policemen protected by the inspector and the sergeant, locked him in a cell of the police station once he handed over his badge to the officers who arrested him after the inquisition; Alan gave Gareth the information who express his gratitude to his brother for his help and he came back to Cardiff where Ansgar was waiting for him at the airport.

ELS INICIS DEL JOVE BLANES

ELS INICIS DEL JOVE BLANES

N’Artur Blanes era un estudiant de Dret andorrà que vivia amb el seu pare Jesús i la seva mare Laura a Encamp, en una casa d’alta muntanya, als afores de la ciutat, on son pare tenia el seu despatx que feia servir per a atendre els clients que demanaven els seus serveis car ell era detectiu privat.

El fill dels Blanes havia nascut el 27 de desembre de l’any 2000 a Andorra la Vella i havia entrat com a agent de la policia nacional andorrana quan acabà els estudis de secundària alternant el batxillerat humanístic que cursava a Vielha amb el seu càrrec públic; en fer els dinou havia ascendit a inspector per mèrits propis i havia començat a eixir amb la que seria la seva esposa al cap d’uns anys, en acabar la carrera a través de la UOC.

El jove Artur tenia els cabells a rínxols atzabeja, els ulls castanys, el bigoti negre i la barba punxeguda també negre. Alt i fort i d’aspecte atlètic, als cinc anys els seus pares l’havien apuntat a les categories inferiors de la Unió Esportiva Santa Coloma i amb divuit anys havia debutat al primer equip essent una de les perles del planter… Jugava al futbol com a passatemps i ho alternava amb els estudis i la feina, però d’ençà del primer cas que li tocà investigar, decidí abandonar-ho i centrar-se en el que més l’apassionava: la investigació d’homicidis, robatoris i segrestos com son pare; de fet, l’havia ajudat en més d’una ocasió des que complí els deu anys.

A principis d’aquell estiu havien mort a trenc d’alba, en un bosc del Principat, a un caçador de senglars; es desconeixien les causes i Jesús Blanes, que estava de vacances a Mallorca amb la seva esposa, havia refusat la oferta del comissari en cap aconsellant que li encarreguessin el lideratge de la investigació al seu fill, que ja estava prou capacitat com per a ser-ne el responsable.

Artur s’havia reunit amb el forense al cap de dos dies i aquest l’informà del que havien descobert fent l’autòpsia al cadàver: l’home, d’uns cinquanta anys, havia estat occit amb el seu propi fusell a causa d’una bala disparada just al front… Les autoritats sospitaven que es tractava d’un suicidi però l’inspector deduí que es tractava d’un assassinat.

Començà els interrogatoris aquella tarda. Per a fer-ho s’havia rodejat del seu grup de confiança: el tinent Joan March i el sotsinspector Pere Sanz serien els homes que l’ajudarien en tot moment i la seva novia Marta Llobet seria la secretària d’eixos tres nois.

No tenia gaire família: una esposa que havia mort en un accident de tren feia tres anys i una filla casada que vivia a San Francisco amb un jove actor de Hollywood; tenia un germà gran resident a Madrid, la seva segona esposa, divorciada d’ell feia dos mesos, que vivia a Berlín i molts amics de joventut… Un d’ells era ecologista i estava en contra de tot allò que perjudicava als animals; eixe era amant dels senglars.

El citaren a declarar al jorn següent a comissaria però no es presentà; com que vivia a Ordino i Encamp estava a prop, Artur agafà el seu Smart blanc biplaça i acompanyat per Pere es presentà a casa seva. Trucaren al timbre i no contestà ningú; prepararen els seus revòlvers, esbotzaren la porta i entraren.

Trobaren el seu cadàver a la cuina; l’havien mort feia una setmana amb un matxet i tots els seus òrgans estaven en estat de descomposició, escampats pel terra i les parets. Les últimes trucades realitzades havien estat les d’un número francès corresponent a la ciutat de Marsella que pertanyia a un amic en comú de l’ecologista i el caçador però el contingut havia estat esborrat.

Mentre Pere trucava a la científica, Artur començà a moure’s pel casalot cercant l’arma homicida; era suficientment gran com per a perdre’s-hi amb tot de passadissos, dormitoris, cambres de bany, etc.

L’inspector Blanes descobrí un rierol de sang que provenia de l’estudi; la porta estava tancada amb clau. La tirà a terra i entrà, encengué el llum quan el sol ja s’havia post entre les muntanyes de la cara sud de la mansió… No estava previst que plogués o nevés però de cop, un llamp caigué i marxà l’electricitat.

Sentí passes que s’apropaven: eren les de Pere o hi havia algú més a la casa? Eixí de l’habitació i algú el colpejà amb un gerro; quan es despertà no sabia què havia succeït ni a on era.

Cridà el nom del seu amic però no obtingué resposta. Escoltà una veu que parlava per telèfon; no entenia el que deia: era francès o pot ser anglès? Per l’accent sabé que era alemany i que era veu de dona… «—Ja ho tinc! La segona muller del caçador?» digué en veu baixa; pero no, no es tractava d’ella.

Havia d’escapar fos com fos: estava en perill.

La senyora penjà l’auricular i entrà. Obrí les cortines i un raig de sol il·luminà tènuement l’habitació; quantes hores havien passat? La forastera li preguntà el nom en accent alemany i li qüestionà els motius que tenia per haver entrat a la seva propietat però Artur es mantingué callat… Li oferí una tassa de cafè però tampoc va respondre i ella isqué del dormitori tancant-lo de nou.

Passaren hores fins que pogué sortir de la sala on el tenien segrestat. Tornà al lloc on havia deixat a Pere però aquest no hi era i tampoc als llocs que el cercà… El seu cotxe havia desaparegut també.

Sentí un soroll familiar i de cop copsà que el seu vehicle tornava per on havia marxat, aquest cop conduït pel seu suposat amic —puix que es tractava d’un que s’assemblava i li havia suplantat la identitat— i la dona que l’havia deixat inconscient durant diverses hores. Anaven parlant en alemany sobre com es deslliurarien dels cossos un cop haurien aconseguit fer desaparèixer Artur del mapa.

L’home li anava proposant mètodes i la dona no els trobava adequats fins que al final la dona se li acudí el pla perfecte:

—Els calcinarem amb benzina i d’aquesta manera, un cop reduïts a cendres, els enterrarem evitant que la policia els descobreixi!—. Exclamà la senyora i el seu company hi estigué d’acord.

Blanes apuntà el seu revòlver a les rodes del seu cotxe i disparà quatre trets per a desinflar-les i que no poguessin escapar. Els emmanillà i interrogà al fals Pere, que estava mort de por, el qual negà tenir qualsevol tipus de relació amb l’alemanya; com que Artur confiava en ell, l’alliberà, però en comptes d’agraïr-li-ho, l’apunyalà ferint-lo de mort.

Sort que un cotxe patrulla que passava per allí, en veure els fets, s’aproximà i mentre un agent arrestava a l’home, l’altre socorria a n’Artur curant-li la ferida i oferint-li un tros de xocolata per evitar mals majors.

Un cop foren tancats en una cel·la de comissaria Joan comença l’interrogatori descobrint que l’home havia pres la roba que duia Pere i l’havia tancat al garatge de la casa per evitar ser enxampats; la dona alemanya havia robat a n’Artur les claus del cotxe i l’havien usat per evitar sospites i confessaren que havien estat els sicaris de l’homicidi del caçador, un tal Ferran Soldevila. No els proporcionaren el nom de la persona que els havia contractat.

Però quan Joan i Artur tornaren a la casa i alliberaren a Pere, aquest els explicà el que havia descobert: una carta que citava als dos sicaris aquella tarda a les sis en un bar de la capital i la signava un anònim; mentre Joan i Pere anaven a entrevistar-se amb l’autor del missatge, Artur es quedà al llit de la seva oficina descansant.

Era un senyor pèl-roig amb pigues a la cara i ferros a les dents que bevia un vas de rom al fons del cafè. En veure’ls intentà escapar per la finestra oberta però Joan arribà just a temps i evità la seva mort; li llegiren els drets i se l’emportaren.

Resultà ser el germà de la segona esposa de Ferran. Aquest i l’ecologista, un jove anomenat Pol Bondia, els devien diners i com que s’havien negat a pagar-los el deute havien decidit d’occir-los però en voler cometre els crims algú se’ls havia avançat i els havia causat. Malgrat tot, confessà haver vist com els sicaris havien mort a Ferran i en fer el reconeixement dels dos, els identificà afirmativament.

Artur, en saber-ho, repassà la llista dels contactes del caçador i descobrí un nom que se li havia passat per alt; més que un nom, una relació: el germà del caçador i Pol Bondia eren amants; el germà del caçador estava casat en primeres núpcies amb la segona esposa de son germà Ferran i aquest posava les banyes a la seva segona dona amb l’ecologista.

A casa de Pol Bondia trobaren unes fotos fetes feia temps i una nota que li demanava mil euros si no volia que eixís a la llum la seva relació amb Ferran; l’havia escrit la segona esposa, la dona banyuda de Ferran.

Les empremtes de l’arma del segon crim descoberta per la científica coincidiren amb les d’ella i l’Europol l’arrestà com a homicida d’en Pol Bondia. Qui havia mort al caçador? Doncs el seu germà de Madrid, quan descobrí que estava sent enganyat per l’ecologista amb Ferran a través de la muller d’aquest; contractà als sicaris per a que l’assassinessin i, d’aquesta manera, venjar-se de son germà per haver-li robat les seves parelles i haver enganyat a una d’elles amb l’altra.

—Queden detinguts per haver causat respectivament, la mort de Ferran Soldevila i de Pol Bondia. Tenen dret a guardar silenci i a un advocat; qualsevol cosa que diguin serà utilitzada en contra seva davant d’un tribunal!—. Blanes els llegí els drets tot mostrant-los les proves.— Pel que fa a vostès —digué dirigint-se als sicaris—, romanen en aquesta comissaria sota vigilància com a còmplices a sou del senyor Ausiàs Soldevila i Matamoros esperant el seu judici!—. Acabà de dir Artur i ordenà a Joan i a Pere que se’ls emportessin de nou cap a la cel·la que ocupaven.

Tornà cap a casa on Jesús l’esperava per a felicitar-lo i li proposà de ser el seu soci… Acceptà el repte ofert i pare i fill passaren a treballar plegats a l’empresa familiar.

ENQUESTA 1

Quin conte en català us ha agradat més de moment?

1.- UNA AUTÒPSIA EN VIDA (Part 1)

2.- UNA AUTÒPSIA EN VIDA (Part 2)

3.- RETORN MELANCÒLIC 

4.- TRAGÈDIA A LA VALENCIANA

5.- BOTIFARRES PER A SOPAR? 

6.- EL CAS ANDREU

7.- LES JOIES DE LA SENYORA SANZ

8.- ARNAU BONET A ANDORRA

Per votar, posin el número corresponent en un comentari (1-8) i a més a més proposin tema pel següent conte que escrigui i el nom que els agradaria que tingués el protagonista; d'entre tots els participants celebraré un sorteig i el guanyador tindrà conte dedicat per mi... Tenen temps fins el 31 d'agost. 

ARNAU BONET A ANDORRA

ARNAU BONET A ANDORRA

 

Havien passat tres anys des del naixement d’Ausiàs Bonet, el primer fill del detectiu Arnau Bonet i la seva segona esposa, na Lorena Collbató, els quals havien tornat a ser pares; eixe cop de bessonada: n’Alba, una nena de cabells pèl-rojos com sa mare, i n’Artur de cabells castany foscos com son pare… El matrimoni havia venut la casa d’Elx i ara vivien a Palma per a ser a prop dels pares de la senyora Bonet, doncs necessitaven la seva atenció perquè progressivament havien perdut visió i ja no podien realitzar les tasques domèstiques que havien fet durant els anys de la primera joventut de la seva filla. 

 

Arnau havia refundat la seva empresa d’investigació privada reincorporant als seus amics Joan Macià i Pere Solivella que, per problemes econòmics, havien tancat el seu negoci i s’havien quedat a l’atur; amb visió de futur, preveient que continuarien en alça les seves finances, decidí d’obrir dues filials: la de Barcelona seria regentada per Macià i la de València per Solivella; d’aquesta manera ampliaria la zona d’investigació i ocuparia la totalitat dels Països Catalans, essent-ne ell el líder. 

 

Mesos més tard, una nit d’estiu que havia decidit passar amb la seva esposa al jardí de casa observant com la lluna coronava el cel, rebé la visita d’un empresari andorrà que els volia contractar perquè havien passat quaranta vuit hores de la desaparició de la seva filla de catorze anys i havia rebut un missatge demanant que pagués els mil euros del rescat si la volia tornar a veure viva ja que si no l’assassinarien. 

 

Segons els explicà, la nota l’havia descobert aquell matí a la taula del seu despatx i, en preguntar-li a la seva secretària qui li havia donat, ella li havia contestat que l’individu que havia deixat la carta era un jove de trenta anys, cabells rossos i ulls blaus, d’aspecte atlètic que tenia accent alemany; l’home havia estat treballador de la seva fàbrica i havia estat acomiadat l’any anterior perquè havien descobert que els robava part dels guanys i traficava amb la màfia espanyola amagant en l’interior de les caixes, lots de cicuta i cianur per a que aquests poguessin cometre els homicidis que causaven als jugadors i altres clients que tenien deutes amb ells. 

 

El senyor Bonet, que sospità d’eixe noi, va voler saber si sabia a on vivia però l’empresari ho negà rotundament; a l’expedient laboral no sortia però de delictes n’havia comès un munt i els aconsellà de parlar amb l’intendent de la policia andorrana, el senyor Àlex Benítez, que també investigava el segrest. 

 

L’intendent Benítez feia dos mesos que havia assolit el càrrec anhelat feia anys; el 31 de desembre de l’any anterior havia complert els trenta i s’havia casat amb la seva nòvia Alsàcia Samsó… Tenia els cabells a rínxols atzabeja i els ulls castanys; ni alt ni prim, ni baix ni gras, força atractiu, havia conegut a Arnau feia dos anys i s’havien fet amics, col·laborant en alguns misteris que investigaven sempre i quan algun dels dos necessités l’ajuda de l’altre. 

 

El trucà durant l’esmorzar del matí següent i decidiren de reunir-se a la capital del principat, a les vuit d’aquella tarda per a parlar sobre el cas. Arnau va fer les maletes i desprès de dinar agafà un avió cap a Barcelona i un helicòpter cap a Andorra la Vella… 

 

Però el que havia de ser un retrobament, acabà essent l’inici d’un nou homicidi per a resoldre’l plegats, doncs les autoritats andorranes havien descobert el cadàver de la filla de l’empresari, llançat entre els matolls prop de la carretera principal i hagueren de deixar el cafè per a més tard per a reunir-se amb la científica. 

 

El forense, quan arribaren, ja era allí fent l’autòpsia i determinà que havia estat apunyalada per darrere; per les petjades que hi havia a prop del cos de la noia, Benítez deduí que s’havia escapat d’on la tenien retinguda i els segrestadors l’havien mort per sorpresa. 

 

El jove policia ordenà als seus subordinats que acordonessin la zona i cerquessin l’arma homicida mentre ell i Arnau començaven a interrogar els testimonis. Al cap d’uns minuts, un agent trobà la dalla amb la qual l’assassí l’havia occit; les empremtes que trobaren coincidiren amb les de son pare, el client que havia contractat a Arnau, i Àlex demanà una ordre per a escorcollar la seva oficina. 

 

Arnau entrà al seu correu i hi descobrí els missatges que la seva filla li havia enviat amb el que havia descobert sobre el treballador alemany però tal i com pogueren copsar en les seves respostes, al contrari del que li havia dit la nit anterior, l’alemany i l’empresari treballaven colze a colze en el narcotràfic perquè el pare de la víctima el defensava fervorosament i confiava en ell… 

 

A més a més l’alemany s’encarregava del blanqueig dels diners que obtenien dels negocis opacs i, segons afirmava un cambrer, els dos s’havien reunit feia unes setmanes per a fer els preparatius de l’homicidi de la filla de l’empresari i evitar ser descoberts per les autoritats andorranes. 

 

Àlex, que sospitava que la noia no era filla de l’empresari i que aquest suplantava l’identitat d’un altre, rebuscà pels pantalons de la víctima fins que trobà el que cercava: al passaport de l'adolescent hi descobrí el seu nom i el de sa mare però el de son pare no; mare i filla es deien igual… Jèssica Canigó, la qual cosa significava que sa mare havia enviat aquells correus. 

 

Buscà a la base de dades si tenia antecedents; no en tenia però sí que obtingué la direcció de la seva residència: eixí amb Arnau cap a Engordany —el lloc natal de l’intendent— deixant la resta d’interrogatoris per a més avant, doncs era urgent de posar-la en un lloc segur perquè el culpable, si a hores d’ara ho havia descobert, tornaria a actuar assassinant la mare de la víctima. 

 

Arribaren al cap de mitja hora i trobaren la porta de casa seva oberta; el pany no estava forçat però els mobles estaven regirats. Trobaren el cos mort de la senyora Canigó al terra del menjador. 

 

Quan arribà el forense i acabà de realitzar l’autòpsia al cadàver, eixe determinà l’hora i la causa de la mort: entre les deu i dos quarts d’una de la nit algú l’havia estrangulat amb una corda i l’havia apunyalat per darrere, la qual cosa va fer pensar a Arnau que es tractava de la signatura de l’homicida i que era una assassí en sèrie. 

 

El detectiu Bonet demanà al doctor si havia descobert alguna cosa més de la primera víctima i aquest li corroborà les seves sospites quan contestà afirmativament: 

 

—Em temo que sí i és important que ho sàpiga!—. Exclamà el cirurgià.—: La causa de la mort fou errònia; li havia disparat un tret i molt em temo que l’apunyalament per darrere és la pista que deixa. 

 

—Moltes gràcies doctor!—. Exclamà Arnau.—: Ara sabem que és la mateixa persona… Però qui vol mal a les Canigó?—. Es preguntà en veu baixa. 

 

Isqueren del menjador i Àlex pujà al segon pis; a l’estudi trobà l’ordinador portàtil encès i una pàgina web de cites amb el xat obert… L’intendent ordenà a la científica que se l’emportés per a cercar empremtes i saber quins contactes de la dona eren els més freqüents d’aquesta per a xatejar. 

 

El qui liderava el rànquing era l’alemany! Li havia dit en certa ocasió que son espòs estava mort i que anhelava trobar una nova parella per a conviure. Descobriren també que l’espòs del mort de la víctima era l’empresari del qual l’assassí s’havia fet passar i que estaven divorciats però que ella continuava treballant a la seva empresa: la mateixa que havia contractat el narcotraficant alemany! 

 

Arnau rebé la telefonada d’un número ocult i l’agafà. La veu era d’home jove i l’identificà: es tractava, sens dubte, del seu client que, segons l’informava, tenia en mans a Lorena i l’amenaçava d’occir-la si no parava la investigació en penjar; quan ho va fer demanà a Àlex des d’on s’havia produït i descobriren la població: Escaldes, i una direcció… Un magatzem que, segons l’informà el seu amic, havia estat abandonat quatre anys enrere. 

 

Enviaren un grup d’agents cap allí i hi descobriren el cos sense vida de l’home que s’havia fet passar per l’empresari; el cotxe que hi havia a fora tenia la matrícula alemanya i el cirurgià, en fer-li l’autòpsia, determinà estrangulament amb les mans —produït durant una baralla— i apunyalament per darrere com les anteriors morts. 

 

Les empremtes que trobaren coincidiren amb les d’un mafiós i homicida en sèrie alemany que estava cercat per les autoritats del seu país per haver comès deu crims que seguien tots un mateix patró: assassinava familiars i persones relacionades amb eixos familiars i els occia de la mateixa manera… La seva signatura era l’apunyalament per l’esquena desprès d’estrangular-los o disparar-los. 

 

Se sentiren passes i el criminal entrà a la nau industrial essent arrestat immediatament per la policia andorrana; a comissaria confessà la seva culpabilitat contestant a les preguntes que Arnau i Àlex li feien per torns: ara un, ara l’altre; desprès l’un, desprès l’altre i així successivament. 

 

—Desprès de cometre el desè homicidi a Berlín em vaig amagar al vostre país. Vaig demanar feina al marit de la senyora Canigó però no me la donà perquè descobrí la meva identitat; em vaig canviar el nom desprès de matar-lo i vaig obrir-me un compte a la pàgina web de cites que les Canigó usaven. 

 

»Vaig posar-me en contacte amb la senyora Canigó fins que descobrí qui era jo realment i, per evitar ser descobert, vaig contractar a un sicari per a que es fes passar per l’empresari occit per mi per a segrestar la seva filla si no em donava els mil euros com a fiança per prometre’m que no els ho contaria. No ho va fer i vaig ordenar-li occir-la. 

 

»Al cap d’uns dies vaig posar-me en contacte amb el sicari i vaig demanar que, fent-se passar pel pare de la víctima, contractés a Arnau i investigués el segrest de na Jèssica per evitar que sospitessin de nosaltres sabent que els bòfies ens cercaven. 

 

»Va venir vostè aquí i mentre era al bar amb el seu amic, vaig apunyalar per darrere a na Jèssica, un cop ja morta de feia uns dies, vaig deixar el seu cos a prop de la carretera principal, em vaig posar les seves botes i vaig fer les petjades per simular que la noia s’havia escapat i el segrestador l’havia occit. 

 

»Vaig tornar-me a posar en contacte amb la mare a través del perfil del sicari i un cop vaig obtenir l’adreça, vaig anar-hi i la vaig estrangular i apunyalar. El sicari em va dir que ho volia explicar tot a la policia i per evitar ser jo descobert, vaig dur-lo a la fàbrica, on vostès l’han trobat mort, per a matar-lo. Ens vam discutir, vaig estrangular-lo amb les mans i vaig apunyalar-lo també. Aquí tenen les proves. 

 

Els mostrà el revòlver amb què el sicari havia occit a la noia de catorze anys, la nota que havia escrit per simular el segrest i els dos matxets utilitzar per a signar les dues darreres morts… Fou extradit a Alemanya on fou jutjat i condemnat; les proves també foren enviades cap allí. 

 

Àlex Benítez i Arnau Bonet s’abraçaren a l’heliport i el detectiu pujà a l’helicòpter que el duria de retorn a Mallorca on la seva família l’esperava per a celebrar la gesta… Però la trucada de Pere Solivella li capgirà els plans i eixe cop hagué de viatjar a Barcelona per a resoldre un nou robatori; un nou cas començava pels tres amics!